Vandalism in Orchard Trails

To wake up and find your car with scrapes and a window smashed in a million little pieces would be the lats thing on your mind in the morning. This was Raechel Wark's dilemma Sunday, Oct. 22. It was 9:20 in the morning ; Wark was getting ready to leave for work, when she shockingly discovered the back windshield of her car was totally shatter in her backseat.

Wark immediately called the Orono police after she saw what had happened to her car. They were already informed about the vandalism and knew about her car specifically. The Orono police had been at Orchard Trails earlier that morning taking pictures of all the vandalized cars. At least 12 vehicles in the Orchard Trails complex received damage from a group of individuals where alcohol could have been a factor early Sunday morning. The damage occurred around 4 a.m. and included scratches on the paint, keyed surfaces, bicycles thrown through rear windows, and wooden posts were also used to break windows as well as sided doors that were punched in.

"I still want to liver here but i am getting frustrated with the amount of vandalism that goes on here," Wark said. No one from Orchard Trails Staff said anything to Wark about the damages that occurred to her car however, a community assistant- like a resident assistant at the dorms - suggested that they couldn't pay for what happened, but wanted to giver her a candy bag to show they were sorry.

Of course the weather forecast was very unpleasant for five days and the damage to Wark's car left the rear window smashed and open to the rain, leaving her backseat drenched in water. "Fortunately i have two amazing friends that, when they heared about what happened to my car, they came and removed all the smashed glass. They also took it to get vacuumed and taped up the window for me. That kept out most of the rain," she said.

This is not the first time vandalism has hit Orchard Trails; the facility constantly has to repair holes and damages in the buildings and Wark has had experience with this also. "our walls get huge holes kicked in every Friday and Saturday and we hare going to have to end up paying for it. Then this whole incident with the cars happened. I think something needs to be done," Wark said. She isn't the only resident upset about the vandalismand looking for answers. Her roommates were lucky nothing happened to their vehicles but were disappointed that these new buildings are being destroyed.

Thankfully, Wark had insurance on her car as the damage cost about $280. At first she was worried that she did not have insurance because her car was older. This was some of the least costly damage; some residents have to pay thousand of dollars worth of damage to their vehicles, and some perhaps wont have insurance.

According to Orono police, they have identified possible suspects, but do not yet have anyone in custody. Bicycles and wooden posts will be used to see if they can receive fingerprints from these objects. These types of incidents are discouraging and disappointing to residents, and cause the residents to fee unsafe. "I feel a little uneasy walking to and from my car at night or in the early morning when it's still dark. My roommate's and i think that Orchard Trails need surveillance cameras in the parking lot for sure," Wark said.

Recently Orchard Trails Staff has hired Securitas Security Services to work at the complex and guard Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights and the Community Assistant make their rounds until 2 a.m on these nights in hopes that future vandalism and other incidents do not occur.